Bakersfield news

• State lawmakers try to repeal vaccine exepmtion

  04-02-2015 23:47
  
  Two state senators want to repeal the portion of the state vaccinations law that allows parents to skip vaccinations for their kids based on personal beliefs.
  
  Dr. Richard Pan, a pediatrician and Senator representing Sacramento and Senator Ben Allen, the former Board President of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District will introduce legislation that will repeal the personal belief exemption that currently allows parents to effectively opt their child out of vaccines in our schools.
  
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• Kamala Harris stakes out her turf in California Senate bid

  04-02-2015 23:03
  
  With the first round of voting still more than a year away, Harris' steps point to an early strategy that appears less about connecting with California's 18 million voters than sending a message to likely rivals to get out of the way. For now, she's the only established candidate, but there's a long list of possible contenders, including former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villariagosa and Democratic U.S. Reps. Loretta Sanchez, Adam Schiff and Xavier Becerra.
  
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• 75-year-old Lamont man located

  04-02-2015 22:59
  
  The Kern County Sheriff's Office has found a missing at-risk adult, Fidel Cordova Sanchez.
  
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• 'I did kill those cops,' suspect says of California slayings

  04-02-2015 22:57
  
  A man charged with killing two Northern California sheriff's deputies stunned a courtroom Wednesday by blurting out that he committed the crimes and is ready to be executed.
  
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• Sheriff's Office to host jail open house

  04-02-2015 22:57
  
  The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is inviting the public to the Lerdo Male Minimum Facility Rebuild Project Phase 1 Open House.
  
  The event will be held on Monday, February 9th, 2015 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at the Lerdo Male Minimum Facility located at 17635 Industrial Farm Road in Bakersfield.
  
  Refreshments will be provided. We hope you will join us on February 9th as we initiate this first phase of the Lerdo Male Minimum Rebuild Project. For further information contact SheriffR
  
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• California to pay $2.5M to settle CHP excessive-force lawsuit

  04-02-2015 22:52
  
  The officer testified that in 2012, James Henry Ligon Jr. stepped out of his car and charged directly at him, shouting threats. Ligon's lawyers said Officer Joe Lafauci's account did not match the physical evidence in the case. Ligon was shot four times in the back.
  
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• Orange County shelter ordered to stop euthanizing animals

  04-02-2015 22:50
  
  The city animal shelter in Irvine has been ordered to stop euthanizing animals and its top administrator has stepped down following accusations of mismanagement and poor animal treatment.
  
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• Demolition begins on San Francisco's Candlestick Park

  04-02-2015 22:37
  
  Crews have started tearing down San Francisco's storied Candlestick Park so houses, a hotel and a shopping center can be built on the site of the former Giants and 49ers stadium.
  
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• MARK POWELL: Pizza for one? A topical challenge

  04-02-2015 22:10
  
  Restaurant chain Pizza Rev recently opened two locations in Bakersfield.
  
  This town already has several great pizza places, so I've often said that any new pizza-related business would need to provide some sort of gimmick or unique service customers couldn't find elsewhere.
  
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• Silver Alert issued for Lamont man

  04-02-2015 21:48
  
  A Silver Alert has been issued through the California Highway Patrol for a missing Lamont man.
  
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• Silver Alert canceled after Lamont man found

  04-02-2015 21:48
  
  The Kern County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday afternoon that the Silver Alert was canceled after this man was found.
  
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• Serial sex offender gets prison for public masturbation

  04-02-2015 21:39
  
  A man who was already a registered sex offender was sentenced Wednesday to more than six years in prison for publicly masturbating in front of two women.
  
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• Former murder suspect, serial sex offender gets prison for public masturbation

  04-02-2015 21:39
  
  A man who was already a registered sex offender was sentenced Wednesday to more than six years in prison for publicly masturbating in front of two women.
  
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• Pigeon pageant for beautiful birds dispels 'rats with wings'

  04-02-2015 21:30
  
  Dogs aren't the only animals that vie for best in show. Hundreds of breeds of pigeons compete in their own version of the Westminster show, strutting on long, thick legs or fluttering curly, lacy feathers in their bid to be best bird.
  
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• HSR comes to Wasco to address concerns

  04-02-2015 21:27
  
  Representatives of California's high-speed rail authority were in Wasco Tuesday to talk aesthetics; how the bullet train and its tracks might change the face of that small farming community. Officials brought lots of artist renderings to show people in Wasco what their city might look like, if and when high-speed rail is built. 
  But residents were less concerned with aesthetics than they were with the impact to their properties.
  "That takes 1/6th of my property.  That al
  
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• Woman in rollover driving on suspended license

  04-02-2015 21:26
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - The CHP reports the woman who was behind the wheel of an SUV that overturned the morning of Feb. 3 was driving on a suspended license.
  According to the CHP, 23-year-old Jessica Meza was driving the Ford Expedition on Highway 43 near the Tulare County line when the vehicle veered off the roadway and overturned.     The CHP says two juveniles who were not properly restrained and were thrown from the vehicle.     They sustained major injuries and w
  
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• Teen seriously injured after being struck by vehicle

  04-02-2015 21:09
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - A 16-year old girl was struck and seriously injured while walking to Centennial High School in northwest Bakersfield.
  It happened on Feb. 4 at Clay Patrick Farr way and Abbott Drive around 7:15 a.m.     That's just a few blocks away from the school.     Bakersfield police say the teen was walking in the slow lane outside a crosswalk and not near the intersection and the 43-year-old driver didn't see the girl.     She was taken by
  
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• Jury selection continues in Masked Rapist trial

  04-02-2015 21:08
  
  Jury selection is scheduled to continue today in the trial of the man accused of raping three women and assaulting a fourth during the summer of 2013.
  Billy Ray Johnson is accused of being the so-called "Masked Rapist."
  He faces 26 felony charges.   In a jailhouse interview last november, Johnson claimed he burglarized homes, but never raped anyone.
  Prosecutors say they have dna evidence linking him to the crimes.
  
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• Serial flasher sentenced to prison

  04-02-2015 21:01
  
  A Bakersfield man will spend the next 6 years and 8 months in prison for exposing himself to two women in 2013.
   Darnell Lucifier Pierce was suspected in a murder case in 2007 but he was acquitted.
  The District Attorney says Pierce was sentenced Wednesday after previously being found guilty of two felony counts of indecent exposure.
  At the time of the offenses authorities say Pierce was on parole.
   He served three prior prison terms, the most recent for the same idecent exposu
  
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• Silver alert issued for missing at-risk adult

  04-02-2015 20:56
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - The Kern County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in locating an at-risk adult.
  
  According to KCSO, 75-year-old Fidel Cordova Sanchez was last seen leaving his residence at 8205 Hoffman #B in Lamont on Feb. 3. around 8:30 a.m.
  
  Sanchez is considered at-risk due to his age.
  
  He regularly rides the Kern Regional Transit Bus from Lamont to the east Bakersfield Veteran's Hall.
  
  However, KCSO says he did not ride the bus on Feb. 3.
  
  He has not bee
  
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• Silver alert cancelled for missing at-risk adult

  04-02-2015 20:56
  
  UPDATE: 2:04 p.m.
  
  The Kern County Sheriff's Office has cancelled a missing persons alert.  They say Fidel Sanchez has been located.
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - The Kern County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in locating an at-risk adult.
  
  According to KCSO, 75-year-old Fidel Cordova Sanchez was last seen leaving his residence at 8205 Hoffman #B in Lamont on Feb. 3. around 8:30 a.m.
  
  Sanchez is considered at-risk due to his age.
  
  He regularly rides the Kern Regi
  
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• Kern Co. celebrates National Burn Awareness Week

  04-02-2015 20:43
  
  Tanner Parsons may seem like a normal six-year-old, but after falling headfirst into his family's lit fireplace when he was just a baby, he will continue to have reconstructive hand surgery until he is 18 years old.
  
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• More layoffs expected for oil company employees

  04-02-2015 20:31
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Oil company Baker Hughes warned county supervisors layoffs are coming to the Shafter plant.
  
  In a letter dated Friday, Jan. 30 to the board, Baker Hughes noted 130 emplopyees in California face a pink slip, including some in Shafter.     The letter did not specifiy how many or the types of positions involved.     The layoffs were expected to come down sometime this week.  Crude oil prices have tumbled over the last six months, tumbli
  
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• Bakersfield Heart Hospital earns special designation

  04-02-2015 20:16
  
  People in Kern County now have a  nationally recognized facilty to go to help prevent heart attacks.
  
  The Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication has named Bakersfield Heart Hopsital and Central Cardiology Medical Clinic SHAPE Centers of Excellence.
  
  
  SHAPE Centers of Excellence adhere to the SHAPE Guideline for screening to identify hidden heart attack risk in apparently healthy men and women. 
  SHAPE recommends a coronary artery calcification score by a c
  
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• Aera Energy unveils new learning center for employees

  04-02-2015 19:54
  
  Aera Energy is taking a unique approach to teaching employees.
  Its called Aera Academy.
  The 14,000 square foot Aera Academy is a one-of-a-kind center in the Bakersfield area, providing Aera employees with a unique place to learn, collaborate and innovate. 
  Aera Academy features floor-to-ceiling images of oilfield processes and equipment, and provides unique venues for collaboration
  The Aera Academy is not a traditional learning center filled with classrooms and computers. While tho
  
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• Staples buys Office Depot for $6 billion to keep pace with change

  04-02-2015 19:50
  
  There are few places where evolving technology has been more disruptive than in the work place, which played out again Wednesday as Staples announced it would spend about $6 billion to buy Office Depot.
  
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• Taft takes action to ban mind-altering bath salts

  04-02-2015 19:46
  
  The city of Taft becomes the first in Kern County to ban the sale, distribution and possession of bath salts.
  
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• SJCH opens new Serenity Room

  04-02-2015 19:41
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - San Joaquin Community Hospital is dedicating a new Serenity Room for families experiencing a tragedy with a loved one.
  
  The new Serenity Room is thanks to generous donations by Doug and Janet Clary, along with Clark and Pam Gustafson from Optimal Health Service.
  
  The Serenity Room will allow families a place to be briefed on a family member's condition or to say goodbye after a lived one has passed.
  
  The Serenity Room will open on Feb. 4, at 10 a.m. at San Joaquin
  
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• Covered California director to talk enrollment

  04-02-2015 19:31
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee will be in town today to discuss enrollment plans with the community.
  
  The event will take place at 3 p.m., Feb. 4 at Omni Health's newest health center, located at 210 N. Chester Ave.
  
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• Centennial High student hit by vehicle

  04-02-2015 19:31
  
  A 16-year-old Centennial High School student was hit by a car Wednesday morning.
  
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• Free healthcare sign-up offered in Bakersfield

  04-02-2015 19:24
  
  If you havent signed up for government mandated healthcare, time is running out.
  
  With just over a week until the sign-up deadline, a union of healthcare workers invites the public to attend two free healthcare enrollment events in Bakersfield:
  Saturday,
  Feb. 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at East Hills Mall, 3100 Mall View Rd., and Thursday, Feb. 12 from 10a.m. to 6 p.m. at Plaza Valley Mall, 2701 Ming Ave.
  
  The health fairs are designed to help people signup for free and low-cost heal
  
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• Pediatrician accused of hiding camera in patient restroom

  04-02-2015 19:23
  
  A Northern California pediatrician has been arrested for allegedly placing a remote camera inside a patient restroom and possessing child pornography.
  
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• Women displaced in fire

  04-02-2015 19:14
  
  Three women were displaced late Tuesday night in a fire.
  
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• Two-year-old stray looking for a new home

  04-02-2015 19:04
  
  Meet our 23ABC Pet of the Week, Barney!
  
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• Meeting tonight for 24th Street Improvement Project

  04-02-2015 18:37
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - A 24th Street Improvement Project community meeting is scheduled for today, Feb. 4.     That's following a decision by the Bakersfield City Council to send blueprints back for refinements last month.     At this open house meeting, Thomas Roads Improvement Program leaders are expected to give an update on the design and aesthetic concepts.
  The meeting will take place today from 4 - 7 p.m. at the Rabobank Convention Center.     The
  
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• Wanted parolee fails in bicycle getaway

  04-02-2015 18:33
  
  Officers with the Kern County Auto Theft Task Force busted a wanted man who tried to get away on a bicycle.
  
  Cops say they were in Oildale Tuesday afternoon when they spotted Jake Mile Rupe on a bicycle.
  
  Rupe was known by officers to be a parolee at large.
  
  Officers attempted to stop Rupe but say he changed directions and refused to stop.
  
  They say Rupe lost control and fell off his bike a short distance away.
  
  Cops say Rupe had meth on him. He was booked into the Kern Coun
  
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• Paramount buys beekeeping operation

  04-02-2015 18:27
  
  Paramount farming is getting into the business of beekeeping.
  The local ag company has purchased headwaters farm, one of the largest beekeepers in the U.S. to ensure it has enough bees for almond pollination.
  Paramount will rename the beekeeping company Wonderful Bees.
  The Florida-based company has 20,000 hives.
  Each spring, beekeepers travel here with their insects to help pollinate almond orchards.
  But diseases and other factors have led to a drop in bee count known as colony col
  
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• U.S. Senator: Allow restaurant employees to skip hand-washing

  04-02-2015 18:17
  
  Congressional Republicans are challenging several health regulations, with one senator suggesting restaurants shouldn't have to make their employees wash their hands after bathroom visits.
  
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• New BevMo set to open at the end of February

  04-02-2015 18:12
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - The BevMo store at the shops at Riverwalk is set to open later this month, the company announced.
  The store is set to open to the public at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 27.     The stores are part of an expansive deveoplment project in the southwest, that will include a new Sprouts Market and a Nordstrom Rack store that is set to open March 26.
  BevMo is a specialty beverage retailer, with a focus on spirits, beer and wine.
  
  If you would like to attend the gran
  
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• 16-year-old girl hit by car near Centennial H.S.

  04-02-2015 18:11
  
  A 16-year-old girl who was walking near Abbott Drive has been hit and injured by a Kia Soul driven by a 43-year-old woman.
  
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• Hospitals raise awareness for burn victims

  04-02-2015 17:57
  
  Hospitals and organizations are raising awareness during this national burn awareness week.
  More than 450,000 people are treated for a burn injury each year according to the american burn association...and many of them are children.
  There are only 125 burn centers in the us. 
  At the San Joaquin Community Hospital burn center in downtown, half of all cases are children mostly age 10 and under.
  Many of these injuries are preventable...something Jennifer Woodard and her family learned
  
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• Advocates raise awareness for Safe Surrender month

  04-02-2015 17:22
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - February is Safely Surrender Baby Awareness Month, hoping to raise awareness to save infants' lives at risk of abandonment.     The safe surrender program was signed into law nine years ago to help reduce the number of abandoned babies across the country.
  For one-year-old Titus, life could have been much different if it wasn't for the safe surrender program.     Kelly and Ryan hester adopted the one year old, giving him the life his biological m
  
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• Child struck, injured by vehicle in northwest Bakersfield

  04-02-2015 16:58
  
  A child was struck and seriously injured by a vehicle during the commute in northwest Bakersfield Wednesday morning.
  
  The incident happened at Clay Patrick Farr Way and Abbott Drive, an intersection close to Centennial High School and Endeavour Elementary School.
  
  The child suffered major injuries, the BPD reported in a brief news release around 7:45 a.m. No other details were immediately available.
  
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• Dog killed in Oildale house fire

  04-02-2015 16:20
  
  A dog is dead and three people were displaced following an early morning house fire in Oildale.
  
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• The Board of Supervisors declares February 9-13 as Grand Jury Awareness Week

  04-02-2015 14:29
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA.-The Kern County Grand Jurors' Association invites the citizens of Kern County to the 2015 Grand Jury Public Awareness Program and KCGJ Offices Open House. 
  
  A ceremony will be held on Wednesday, February 11 at 10:00 a.m. and it takes place at The Liberty Bell in downtown Bakersfield. 
  
  For more information or to apply for the 2015-16 KCGJ, you can call 661-868-4797 or visit www.co.kern.ca.us/grandjury. Applications will be accepted until April 3, 2015. 
  
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• Phase one of fracking study reviewed

  04-02-2015 08:46
  Scientists with the California Council on Science and Technology admitted Tuesday night, they don't have all the answers yet, and they wanted to hear from people who live here about their fracking concerns. The first installment of the independent scientific study examined the prospects for pulling oil from the Monterey formation here in Kern County...once thought to contain as much as 15 billion barrels of oil, as assumption, that has since been all but discredited. Jane Long, the lead
  
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• PHOTO GALLERY: Dogs flown by 'Wings of Rescue' to forever homes

  04-02-2015 08:34
  
  More than 100 canines were flown to a shelter in the Pacific Northwest — and the promise of new homes — when Kern County Animal Services, Marley’s Mutts and Unity Thrift Rescue of Taft coordinated a Wings of Rescue flight Tuesday at Meadows Field.
  
  The dogs, flown north by volunteer pilots, were part of a program to save the lives of unwanted, neglected and homeless pets.
  
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• KHSD board: more money for schools; new schedule approved

  04-02-2015 08:32
  
  The Kern High School District needs money, and lots of it, to build two new schools and reduce class size.
  
  Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to increase next year's state budget by $2.5 billion could help some.
  
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• Taft ordinance combats synthetic drugs

  04-02-2015 08:28
  
  They sound like something you'd keep around the house to give you a relaxing night in the tub. But bath salts are also the name of a dangerous designer drug. 
  
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• Ratings agencies express concern over Kern's finances

  04-02-2015 07:53
  
  Kern County's bonded debt is getting a close watch from two top ratings agencies after the Board of Supervisors declared a fiscal emergency last week.
  
  Kern is facing a projected $27 million deficit for the 2015-2016 fiscal year thanks to a 43 percent decline in property tax revenues from the oil industry. That, combined with steep escalations in pension bond costs and other fiscal challenges, was eno
  
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